Following the February 2 riot on campus by antifa to shut down Milo, as well as their attacks on a Trump rally March 4, Rich Black organized a free speech rally called Patriots Day to be held at noon, April 15 in Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park, where conservative speakers were featured: Lauren Southern, Kyle Chapman, Vaughan Neville, Irma Hinojosa, Baked Alaska and Brittany Pettibone.

Antifa hooligans cover themselves in black with black masks in order to obscure their identities so that if one commits a crime they can not be individually singled out. They also have a system for allowing certain members to commit violence and others to act as shields around them. The police were present during the free speech rally, bu as soon as antifa began throwing M-80s and smoke bombs, the police pulled back, antifa made a column and broke down the plastic mesh fence separating the two sides and the fighting began. According to reports, the free speech side also threw things, but never explosives.

Several prominent free speech activists from across the political spectrum were live streaming the event. Tim Pool, a self-described liberal, said that antifa instigated about 80% of the violence while the free speech attendees started about 20%, although he made the distinction that only antifa was throwing explosives. Lauren Southern, who calls herself a right-winger, was live streaming and said antifa were the only ones throwing explosives and other dangerous objects, such as large rocks, bricks, glass, etc., and she also said they were attempting to murder people by suffocating them with bags over their heads, group stomping victims, etc. Luke Rudowski, probably more of a libertarian centrist, was live streaming and caught the most viral video action after antifa's smoke bomb backfired, follwed by a rush of free speech activists that led to Moldylocks and diminuitive Damigo fighting on camera.

One of the most cowardly and dangerous attacks of the day occurred when a confrontation of the two groups had a few antifa women on the front lines trying to knock phones out of people's hands, while an antifa man jumped out for a sucker punch with a bike lock against someone trying to keep the peace named Sean Stiles.

The alleged antifa attacker was later doxxed as a teacher at Diablo Valley College in the Bay Area. 4chan /pol/ used facial recognition from social media pics that day to identify him. The man he hit bled profusely from his head and received first-aid from a group of free speech activists who attend these events where they know antifa will come and use violence. They organize themselves into a guarded perimeter where they can bring people in for first aid.

Original footage of bike lock attack and first-aid group on the free speech side.

I see a consensus of video evidence and reporting from this event that antifa is violent, and they say in interviews it is their right to use violence against their political opponents, but I think Tim Pool is absolutely correct that cheering the violence on and failing to reset each interaction in order to look for peaceful dialog will eventually be bad for everyone.

By Any Means Necessary BAMN leader Yvette Felarca, seen nearby the bike-lock attacker from April 15, was also caught on video punching and leading a group attack against a peaceful street marcher in Sacramento last summer on June 26.

One of the questions arising from the three battles of Berkeley are why did the police stand down and not intervene when antifa became violent? Apparently, the mayor of Berkeley is part of BAMN and connected to antifa along with Felarca, so maybe this is the reason. However, Tim Pool suugests it is more likely just a practical matter of a small city not having the resources to deal with a large group of violent people and that if they use sufficient force necessary to intervene, it will be made into an issue of police brutality and used against them.

Per request: The following is my statement about the violence that took place on April 15th, 2017, Patriots Day.

This statement is also made to address the attendance and affiliation with the alt-right and white nationalists, who were spotted throughout the day, among the attendees, on our side. As it has been established before and remains an unwavering creed: The LRA does not condone nor promote violence at the events we organize. Careful measures were taken to ensure that, among our invited detail, there were none who appeared to have any desire to engage in physical confrontation. Those who appeared to have an interest in physical confrontation were removed from this detail prior to the event. It must be known, that those who’s sole drive is to “release” their frustrations through physical force, are not heading the fight against radicalism. For those on the Left, and in their ranks, are products of mass production, and physically besting one of them does not prevent the indoctrination occurring at our schools and the legislation making it’s way through Congress.

The LRA believes a physical match is not simply one with those on the radical fringe, it is against the Law, and in the same respect, against the Police and the structures that we aim to uphold. With all that being said, and after careful review, it is to my understanding that it was not us that threw the first stone, or in this case, an M80. It appears that the first physical confrontation broke out shortly after the group BAMN arrived and an M80 was thrown at our attendees. I believe a reaction to this effort is justified. From that moment, up until the retreat of Antifa, I will not be condemning actions taken against the Left on that day. After more footage continues to come out and I bear witness to the atrocities that took place on April 15th, I believe that every thing that took place following the first explosion was an act of Self Defense and necessary for the success and safety of our event.

I understand that there are many that are, once again, disappointed in the response time and intervention from the Berkeley Police Department. Although I cannot and will not justify all of their decisions on that day, it should be known that when the last speaker had finished, per instruction, we gave a public announcement to begin evacuating the area and the Police mobilized against Antifa allowing us to leave. It was also to our understanding that the Police had made assurances to us, granted we would not cross the orange fencing at any time. I understand that this may have been impossible at times. However, if it were not for the Police immediately disarming the first wave of Antifa, whom were in a full charge against us, the event would have been shut down before it began and would have resulted in tremendous blood shed.

As far as Identity Evropa, the Alt-Right and the Sacramento Workers Party who showed up to attend our event: We did not extend an invitation to these particular groups and we had many denouncements in regards to them, prior to this event. When Nathan Damigo arrived I met with him in the center of the park and I told him that because of his affiliations, that his group was not welcome to occupy our space on the stage, and he would not be provided security. He was polite, did not argue, agreed to our terms and continued to pursue his own venture throughout the day.

I wasn’t made aware of White Nationalists or Socialists amongst us until after the event. However, I was informed that when a White Nationalist or Workers Party affiliate was found amongst us, they were asked to leave and they complied to our requests. As far as Nathan Damigo’s (punch) which has now gone viral and deemed by many as an unwarranted assault: I have seen countless images and video evidence that proves otherwise. Beyond personal choice, and from an objective standpoint, Nathan attempted to disarm this individual multiple times; as she was attacking others with empty wine bottles.

Moving forward, I understand that a lot of you are upset over the lack of physical engagement by some and in the same respect, upset that there was too much physical engagement by some. I will not break this movement up by giving merit to some and shaming others. I will encourage you to continue to follow the Law and to not allow others to pressure you to engage in activities that you feel are immoral or could potentially corrupt your inner peace. A house divided cannot stand. It is a lesson that is overlooked by many of those on the Right and I am disappointed in those who encourage such division. Look to the speakers of this event. Although some may categorize them as the same, I assure they are all very different. Yet they stood together, cheered together, and worked together as one.

This was never a battle, it was never sold as a battle and I will never call it a battle. It was a unity. It was always for unity, eliminating division, and the revival of Liberty. Thank-You.

If Antifa are the fascists, then are the fascists anti-fascists? If you're anti-fascist, does than make you pro-Antifa?

Anyway, throwing bricks and bottles makes one violent, not fascist. It's possible to be against violence (random and intentional) without being pro-Antifa or pro-fascist. It's also possible to be anti-fascist and be pro-democracy. Actually, my generation was brought up to believe that fascism and communism were un-American. But, I'm sure this will be taken as a justification for throwing bricks and bottles.

Don't get me wrong. I agree with fighting fascism: however, it's a form of government, not an attitude. So, I just believe there is a proper time, place and method for disputing an unjust government. The Declaration of Independence lays that out.

"A man is rich when he has time and freewill. How he chooses to invest both will determine the return on his investment."

It's almost baffling that some people will put hours into digging up evidence to build narratives that forward the idea that overtly racist and fascist people are the victims. Imagine what one could find spending half the time looking into how many people have been violently murdered by white nationalist or white socialist "activists." Has the Antifa killed anyone yet? If so, how many. On the flip side, how many people have been shot, stabbed, or killed by white supremacists in the last year? In Washington, Milo supporters recently shot people. Didn't hear of any Antifa doing that at Berkeley.

Talk about a waste of one's time and intellectual dishonesty...

I would also add, the heroes of people like Milo (Trump) and Spencer (Hitler) didn't go around killing themselves. Rather, it was their message that will get or got other people to kill others based on their race or ethnicity. The Antifa are attacking people based on their actions, not because they are white.

Pffft... Trump is intimately involved with White supremacy - his father allied with them to counter the Italian, Chinese, Irish (Kennedy related) and other organized crime in New York. If you want I can ask my Aryan Brotherhood contacts, Italian mob contacts, Tong contacts, Black Panther contacts etc. the list goes on but I don't need to ask anyone because I'm already aware. His record is unquestionably racist and misogynistic. His father even had a Woody Guthrie protest song written about his racist slumlord bullshit - don't tell me that the apple fell far from the tree. Come the fuck on people - it's obvious and right in front of our noses that Trump is playing up a nationalistic rah rah sis boom bah bullshit tune that is purposefully designed to prey on those of us in poverty.

You wanna talk tough? It takes more balls to fight against entrenched bullshit than it does to go with the flow. Trump is the current flow - he lied his ass off and is not accomplishing much that he promised on the campaign trail. He never expected to win and now all the nut jobs feel they are justified in their prejudice and lack of experience of what the urban poor go through. I had to tell off a lady the other day who complained about an art event where I was performing - she asked, "Is this some kinda sucky Black karaoke?" It's obvious here in Arizona that the Caucasian persuasion is becoming bolder. He's a retarded tortoise with an assault rifle stuck on a post shooting randomly. How could we as a nation have fallen for this? What we need is a new Teddy Roosevelt not a neo-Nazi in thin disguise running his mouth about bullshit and making a blunder of international relations.

Why do so many Americans vote against their own interest? Why are corporations benefiting from taxes more than the common man? Why are regulatory agencies being rolled up and put away? Because conservatives run on flight or fight and they're scared of change. The world is changing - I don't give any fucks about your fears - or what used to be the standard 30 years ago. Check the science - global warming is real people, fresh water supply is dwindling, and there is far more bullshit ahead.

Hooliganism and domestic terrorism being painted as righteous indignation isn't helping things. Factual, impartial examination of the events at UCB has borne out more than just a little hypocrisy on the part of those who oppose first amendment rights - irrespective of any one who exercises those right for its own sake.

The 'movement's' online threats have successfully coerced and terrorized an Oregon town into canceling a parade just because a group of local repubs are annual participants.

Your posts have elicited some of the classic responses people express when their entrenched views run into the wall of cognitive dissonance. We got, silence, glib deflection, the full gamut of logical fallacies (all in one post), and "...but...but Trump and white people!"

Interesting to see how things are progressing with the educated and enlightened neo-non-nazis when they default to organized violence instead of initiating open, fair and constructive dialogue.

Ian C. Kuzushi wrote:It's almost baffling that some people will put hours into digging up evidence to build narratives that forward the idea that overtly racist and fascist people are the victims. Imagine what one could find spending half the time looking into how many people have been violently murdered by white nationalist or white socialist "activists." Has the Antifa killed anyone yet? If so, how many. On the flip side, how many people have been shot, stabbed, or killed by white supremacists in the last year? In Washington, Milo supporters recently shot people. Didn't hear of any Antifa doing that at Berkeley.

Talk about a waste of one's time and intellectual dishonesty...

I would also add, the heroes of people like Milo (Trump) and Spencer (Hitler) didn't go around killing themselves. Rather, it was their message that will get or got other people to kill others based on their race or ethnicity. The Antifa are attacking people based on their actions, not because they are white.

Hi Ian,

Because they erupted into violence, I am interested in the recent events in Berkeley of Feb. 1 on campus with Milo, the March 14 Trump rally in the city, and the April 15 Patriot's Day that turned into a riot. I researched it online to learn as much as I could and what I readily found was clear, video evidence of Antifa making unprovoked and violent attacks in order to prevent the free speech of people they, or someone they'd trusted, had labeled as unworthy of having the right to free speech, very similar to what you've written above.

I was a bit confused by one of your posts in February where you hinted that you had personal information about Milo being driven off the UC Berkeley campus and also because you refused to acknowledge the obvious danger that was present there on Feb. 1, but after your recent Facebook post where you said you have Antifa friends, it makes more sense.

I don't hide that I came to a conclusion about Antifa in Berkeley and I gave some of the evidence in this threas as to why i think they're violent hooligans. If you wish to be intellectually honest, you would respond to the particulars of the three events in Berkeley I've referred to, Feb. 1, March 14 and April 15, or something else relevant and specific to the accusations against Antifa of using organized violence.

You seem to be blind to Antifa's violence, or maybe you look at it with the perspective that it is justified, although you refuse to acknowledge it, which I think is intellectually dishonest. Why don't you take a look at some of the clips I've provided?

Are you familiar with the numerous videos of Antifa at the past 3 events, who, without provocation, brained people with bicycle u-locks? What have you to say of the other video evidence of the worst of their violence: throwing M80s and other explosives into crowds, as well as large stones and bricks, plus tasering and group stomping people, all caught on video.

I have counted on video one unprovoked bike lock attack at the Feb. 1 event and 3 at the April 15, with one miss. The worst one was done on April 15 to a man literally on his knees imploring two sides of a confrontation to peace, when an Antifa man snuck out from behind the women they put on the front lines, smashed him on the top of the head with a bike u-lock, then ran off.

As far as the shooting in Washington, the shooter claims self-defense but was just charged two days ago with first degree assault, along with her husband. I condemn that kind of violence and consider it irresponsible for people to knowingly go into situations where they expect to use deadly force, and then bring guns or other weapons along that make a violent outcome more certain.

Ian, do you condemn Antifa's throwing of M80s into crowds of people on April 15? Or do you fear you would be calling out some of your friends?

One of the groups in Berkeley associated with Antifa is BAMN, By Any Means Necessary. One of its leaders is Yvette Felarca, who was video recorded by her own supporters physically attacking a peaceful protester at a permitted event in Sacramento last summer. She was also suspended from her job as a middle school teacher partly because of that incident and also for indoctrinating her students and taking them to political rallies during and after school. This video connects the dots of Felarca's violence and indoctrination of students, providing information that BAMN is a cult recruiting children.

I have not verified the reports in the video, allegedly from a Detroit boy who said he spent over a year in BAMN, living in one of their houses in Berkeley until he decided to return to his family. Whether these reports about the children in BAMN are true, the information in the video about Felarca, along with her own statements giving herself and her group the right to violently suppress anyone they choose to label as a fascist, are the same as those of Antifa. The similarity in their violent ideologies tends to answer the question of where or how do some people get radicalized into Antifa as some of them are likely first recruited by BAMN, where they learn that violence is justified against peaceful political opponents because you think they're organizing for violence behind the scenes, even when there is no evidence for it.

Hooliganism and domestic terrorism being painted as righteous indignation isn't helping things. Factual, impartial examination of the events at UCB has borne out more than just a little hypocrisy on the part of those who oppose first amendment rights - irrespective of any one who exercises those right for its own sake.

The 'movement's' online threats have successfully coerced and terrorized an Oregon town into canceling a parade just because a group of local repubs are annual participants.

Your posts have elicited some of the classic responses people express when their entrenched views run into the wall of cognitive dissonance. We got, silence, glib deflection, the full gamut of logical fallacies (all in one post), and "...but...but Trump and white people!"

Interesting to see how things are progressing with the educated and enlightened neo-non-nazis when they default to organized violence instead of initiating open, fair and constructive dialogue.

I've also been following Dr. Jordan Peterson of University of Toronto in his fight against social justice thought police, as well as Dr. Gad Saad of Concordia Univ. in Montreal, both of whom are prominent free speech advocates in Canada. They make a lot of good points that we must have dialog to keep society working and I think reacting with violence to groups like Antifa completes their self-fulfilling prophecy that everyone they disagree with are fascists, Nazis, etc., who don't deserve the opportunity to speak because they're inherently violent, so even using self-defense against them appeals to their mindset.

A few days ago, a lawyer in Berkeley held a press conference because she'd been retained by two student groups to sue UC Berkeley for restricting free speech and she outlined several things that need to happen to keep free speech alive, and of course none of those things included street fights with Antifa. She blamed the City of Berkeley Mayor's Office and Police Department the most, but said UCB and the students also have responsibilities.

Yes, we have our own brand of these 'activists' here in Canada. Dr. Peterson has been shouted down for making some fairly benign statements which challenge people to be fair in examining opposing views. That simple idea has been an institution of Canadian thought since forever, and now it's passe because some people are offended by words, and thought, which asks them to consider uncomfortable ideas without their personal feelings interfering with their reasoning.

The first step is accepting the angst of those poor, fragile creatures and then ask them to join a discussion without debate, because debate isn't the path by which we really understand one another. It's a tempest in a teacup in Canada, but it's turning into a powder keg in the US.

It appeared that in the Patriot's Day free speech event on April 15 in Berkeley had conservatives and liberals chatting politics until Antifa began throwing M80s and the police took off. I think there's a chance that these extremists will unite other groups who will suddenly see what they have in common with each other compared to violent thugs.